Lipton tea laced with toxic pesticide residue

Last week we released a report revealing the extent of which banned pesticides are finding their way in Chinese brand teas. And today, the revelations keep on coming.

Lipton, the world's best-selling tea brand, is also selling tea in China with illegal pesticides.

In March 2012, Greenpeace randomly purchased several boxes of Lipton tea bags produced and sold in China at two Beijing stores. The samples, which included green tea, oolong tea, jasmine tea and black tea, were then sent to an independent third-party lab for pesticide residue testing.

Our second report details three of the four samples contained pesticides that are banned for use on tea plants and are highly toxic. Altogether 17 diferent kinds of pesticides were found on the four samples.

Busted! Lipton's claims of corporate responsibility prove false

Lipton's holding company is Unilever - one of those mega-conglomerate multinational consumer goods companies. Last year they reported a whopping €46.5 billion in turnover. Their very size equates to a responsibility to consumers and the environment, as well as the power to be game-changers in their industry.

In Unilever's last Corporate Responsibility Report they describe Lipton as their, "first foreign enterprise to enter China; it has a long-term commitment to China, and it hopes to establish a sustainable business model in the country."

While on its official Chinese website, Lipton claims that it only uses insecticides that have received formal state approval for use, and it pledges to only use "the minimum amount of chemicals to achieve the required effect."

As our testing shows, this is clearly not the case. Not that this is the first time Lipton have proven indifferent to the health and safety of the Chinese consumer. Last year excessive residues of heavy metal were found in Lipton tea.

Why should you be concerned?

Let's take a look at the three banned pesticides that were found in these tea samples:

Methomyl:

An insecticide, potentially damaging to the human nervous system.

Banned for use on tea plants under China's Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) – Notice 1586.

Classified by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a highly toxic pesticide.

Dicofol:

A pesticide, chemically related to DDT.

Banned for use on tea plants under China's MoA – Notice 199.

Classified by the EU, not only as harmful when swallowed, but also when in contact with skin.

Endosulfan:

A persistent pesticide, potential endocrine disruptor.

Banned for use on tea plants under China's MoA – Notice 1586.

Banned globally under the Stockholm Convention.

Take action

For now the most important thing you can do is read out report and then spread the word.

1. Post this page on Facebook and leave comments on Lipton's Facebook page.

Oh my goodness! I didn't hear about this, but that's horrible! Pesticides are dangerous, and we should all learn a little more about them. I just found out how harmful they could be from an article I read: http://www.ridmothsnaturally.com/moth-balls/chemicals-can-hurt-you-more-than-they-can-help-you.html

Thanks for sharing this! We should all make an effort to look for alternatives when possible. It could make a huge difference in the health of a lot of people.

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(Unregistered) saddlebred
says:

The USA leads the world in Cancer, Heart Disease, Diabetes, Obesity and many other life threatening diseases in large part because of large corporatio...

The USA leads the world in Cancer, Heart Disease, Diabetes, Obesity and many other life threatening diseases in large part because of large corporations such as Lipton / Unilever. It is clear that the majority of US Corporations value PROFITS more than they value human beings, the planet, and anything else !!

Enough is Enough !! Be suspicious of their products, check them as was done with the Lipton Tea........when pesticides and undesirable chemicals are found BAN them from selling their products..........anything to do with money will get their attention !!!!!!!

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tessa91
says:

Lipton can also be bad for you if you have diabetes haha, I haven´t drunk any of it for years.
I read a lot about diabetes, it would be nic...

Lipton can also be bad for you if you have diabetes haha, I haven´t drunk any of it for years.
I read a lot about diabetes, it would be nice if you wrote something about what it does to diabetic people.